Having had a while to properly digest the trailers for Star Wars episode seven: The Force Awakens, or TFA for short, my mind is doing overtime on what sort of story arc and world state we will be in come December. From what we have seen, I am going to have a go at a few assumptions piecing together trailer 1 and trailer 2. For the record I have no access to anything except my imagination and encyclopedic love of the films.
The Time period – We have to be in and around thirty years post Return of the Jedi. By getting the original cast back together, any other kind of time period wont make sense. The three prequel films were ridiculed for their setting, because they strayed too far from the originals. By getting Harrison Ford et al. back, the film will be grounded in a kind of realism and have a direct link to the original trilogy.
The Empire – Their title was ‘The Galactic Empire’, literally that means they were in charge of the whole galaxy. What makes us think that the death of their leader and destruction of their space station means that they are suddenly all gone? Certainly losing Palpatine and Vader would have been a huge blow but in real terms, an empire with the ability to rule over a whole solar system, is going to have a few more leaders and generals that need taken care off. This will be why there are stormtroopers and an ’empire’ in the trailer. We have since learnt this faction will be called the ‘First Order’. Sounds good.
The original cast – Firstly the Skywalkers. Luke was a bit broken after the events of Jedi. He almost turned to the dark side, he almost died, and his estranged father saved his life before a heartbreaking change of allegiance. Are we meant to believe that Luke wasn’t affected by this and went to live peacefully and train Jedis? More likely he has become a recluse like Obi-Wan. The scene in the second trailer where a one-handed figure puts his hand on R2-D2 supports this. Luke lost his hand, so we are meant to think this is him. It certainly doesn’t look like the surroundings of a world leader. I’d imagine he is going to play the Obi-Wan role in the next trilogy.
Leia is a more difficult one to predict. Coming from a royal background, the assumption long-held was that she would ascend to ruler of the republic and settle down to family life with Han Solo. We see one figure in the second trailer that should be Leia, receiving a lightsaber from a small alien creature. After much debate this lightsaber appears to be Luke’s which was lost in the fight with Vader on Bespin. How it has been recovered and by whom remains a mystery. I would guess that the Jedi are thought extinct once more, as the way the saber is collected looks to be a mixture of reverence and shock. It could be shock at seeing this exact saber or seeing one at all. We know Leia feels the force, but was she trained after Jedi? We shall see.
Han Solo and Chewbacca looks to be an easy one. The reveal at the end of trailer two makes it seem like nothing has changed for them. They are still together, still in the millennium falcon and still on the run from Tie fighters. Again this supports the fact that there is still an Empire of sorts, what puzzles me is the lack of any interaction with Leia or Luke. Have they split up? I think so, for one I don’t see Han Solo as the settling down type, secondly it was always a volatile relationship. They probably have split up and will be reunited in this film.
The new cast – We have been told that the story will focus on three new characters. To avoid spoilers I will refer to them as the stormtrooper – played by John Boyega, the scavenger played by Daisy Ridley and the X-wing Pilot, the Oscar Isaac. Out of these the stormtrooper looks to be the most interesting. Piecing together his scenes in the two trailers it looks like he begins as a trooper but he clearly has issues with the work he is doing. I believe this will force him to escape the army, where he will team up with the scavenger. Where they go from here is anyone’s guess. Will one of them have the force? Bets are on the stormtrooper. The x-wing pilot is another difficult one. We know nothing other than he is in a squadron. However, as there are Ties then there are also x-wings. Which side is ‘the establishment’ and which the rebellion. More excitement.
The Sith – For me the best bit, how are there more Sith and where did they get the cool new lightsaber from? As we know there are always two, a master and an apprentice. In Jedi, both the master, Palpatine and the apprentice Vader were killed. Were has this new Sith came from? The voice over in the trailer talks about an awakening of the force. In the dark and the light. If they need to be awakened are both dormant and unheard of? Certainly this would make sense with my recluse Luke theory above. The predominant fiction about the period after Jedi, is Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy. Having not read this, due to its unavailability on e-book I won’t claim to know anything about it. What I have heard is that a General called Thrawn who was on the other side of the galaxy from the death star explosion, rallies the remnants of the empire to attack the new republic. No mention of Sith. There was a Jedi academy, run by Luke, but from the trailers I just don’t see it happening here.
So what do you think? Am I on the right lines as to what state the world will be in for the new films, or have you got a better suggestion. Let me know you own theories in the comments.
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